With a reality-altering concept, an elaborate plan to subvert a disaster, and undertones of war, Tenet seemingly has all the makings of a true Christopher Nolan piece. But Tenet pales in comparison to the complex labyrinths of detail and nuance we have come to expect from Nolan. Devoid of emotion, pedantic dialogue that explains little, and predominantly listless performances make for a tepid thriller that often comes off as contrived and anti-climactic.
An agent, known only as the Protagonist, is sent on a mission to supposedly prevent World War III, with his sprightly but mysterious partner Neil. He must stop Russian arms dealer Andrei Sator, who holds the fate of the world in nine Infinity Stone-esque pieces of an algorithm hidden around the world.
Nolan’s films shine in their high stakes play of events that threaten chilling implications, which Tenet ultimately lacks. For grandiosity’s sake, characters vaguely allude to ‘world annihilation’ and ‘erasing history’, but they glaze over so many details that viewers are barely invested in the plot. They answer most pertinent questions with frustrating platitudes like ‘something worse’ or ‘the right place at the right time’ – which doesn’t intrigue, it tires.
While explaining time inversion in one of the initial scenes, a scientist impassively says, “Don’t try to understand it, feel it.” If Tenet had any emotion whatsoever, that would be good advice for anyone watching the film. But the stakes are virtually emotionless, as are the relationships between characters. We never find out much about them (barely even their names), or ever get to see them ‘off the job’. They seem to be on their workplace personalities the entire time. Nothing can be gleaned of their motivations and idiosyncrasies or why we should care about them at all.
We know Nolan’s characters to be beautifully complex and intricate. Tenet’s characters, however, seem to be acting on clichés. The Protagonist is a generic do-gooder, the man running into the burning building. The antagonist Andrei Sator is a textbook, Russian-accented villain who lives semi-exclusively on a yacht. Robert Pattinson, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air. In an avatar quite different from his usual brooding self, he was refreshing to watch and brought a bit of life to the film.
Tenet is certainly ambitious. But the way the film is set up, the thrills are too predictable to be impressive and the mysteries are too obscure to fully grasp. The action, as always, is good and keeps you on the edge. But Tenet lacks those truly hair-raising moments that would have elevated the film a few notches.
One of the things Christopher Nolan does best is toy with what people take for granted to be true. He poses intriguing questions about science, faith, the universe, and what makes us human. Although he offers no answers, maybe pondering them is the most important thing of all. Challenging preconceptions has always set him apart as a filmmaker, and perhaps that is the only redemption for Tenet.
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